The Telugu New Year, Sri Plava nama Samvatsaram, saw subdued celebrations amid spurt in coronavirus cases in Prakasam district on Tuesday.
Social gatherings were missing as people preferred to celebrate the festival at home. As a result the arterial roads, including Trunk road and Kurnool road, wore a deserted look. Those who did step out of the house to visit temples were seen with facemasks.
Devotees offered prayers at the historic Ganga Parvati Samedha Parameswara temple at Chennakeshavapeta and Santhepeta Saibaba temple.
The customary ‘Panchanga Sravanam’ was done away with in most temples. However, people did not miss the almanac reading thanks to live-streaming of the event on the social media and television channels. Vedic priest Matampalli Dakshinamurthy appealed to people to fully adhere to COVID-19 protocols while offering prayers to Lord Siva on the occasion.